Brink

The next morning, Caelena is the one who tells me that I should resting up for the next couple of days. But as soon as she leaves, I decide that I'm well enough to wander about on my own. I push back the covers and roll myself over, climbing onto my feet with a little more ease this time. I stand there for a while, flexing my legs and stretching my arms as far as I can without any sharp pains. I'm just combing my fingers through my hair when the tent flap opens and I flinch, turning to see the black haired boy peering curiously at me.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he says, lifting his hand as if asking for pardon. "I thought you'd be sleeping."

"No, Caelena said I'm supposed to stay in bed," I reply. "I thought you might be her."

"Understandable, she's pretty scary when she's cross."

"Linos, right?" I ask. "Thanks for taking care of my sword. You really didn't have to."

"Oh, that was-" Linos' face became tinted with pink. "I was just sitting here anyway. It was nothing."

I smile and step forward while he watches me, bewildered as I peek past him to see outside the tent. He moves slightly, allowing me a little more space as he mimics my actions. We stand there, bent over for a long span of seconds before he speaks again.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"I'm going for a walk," I tell him, finally stepping outside and straightening to admire the sunlight.

"But you're still hurt," Linos protests, following me out.

He doesn't make any move to stop me as I stroll around the small encampment and observe. The bed of soil is firm under my feet, but much softer than the paved stone that I'm used to. I reach my fingers out to touch the wrinkled bark of a tree and knock on it for good measure. Now that I think about it, I didn't get much of a chance to appreciate anything when the team first set out on the mission those weeks ago. The air was too riddled with danger and unease of the unknown, but for some reason the air here was quiet and calm. I can feel my mouth curve into a soft smile as a breeze rakes through my hair. I draw some kind of comfort from it as I close my eyes and I'm reminded again of pieces from a past I'd thought I forgotten.

"Linos, what are you doing?" Another voice barks, startling us both as we look to the source.

It is an older man with dark hair and some mild facial hair that I don't recognize. He trades glances with me once before looking to Linos with scorn as he lumbers over. Linos starts to babble incoherently and I quickly realize that he's intimidated.

"She's supposed to be resting. Caelena specifically said-" the man growls.

"If I lie there like a useless lump much longer, I'll become one," I interrupt, crossing my arms over my chest and inclining my chin. I may have been in an unfamiliar environment, but I wasn't about to let them tell me where to sit quietly until they say I can get up. "Besides, you look like you're a lot worse off than I am."

Linos balks at me, indicating that I've just crossed some line that I was never aware of. I keep my eyes trained on the man's face, not moving and not backing down. The ink haired boy's eyes are darting between us at a dizzying rate. Finally, the man relents and gives me an annoyed sneer as he continues about his business around the extinguished campfire. Linos visibly deflates as he turns to look at me, as if he was questioning my sanity. I turn my palms up and arch a brow at him in return.

"If these wounds weren't so fresh and I were a few years younger, I'd knock some sense into that flaming head of yours myself," he grunted as he started to chuck some dry wood onto old ashes. "You're the girl from one of the settlements, aren't you? How'd you like your first scavenging mission?"

"It wasn't anything unexpected," I reply, narrowing my eyes at him when I pick up an edge of disdain lining his tone. "Half the company was slaughtered and I'm not sure if the rest made it back alive."

"And then there's you," he smirked. "I really can't stand you subterranean dwellers. Dirty, cowardly things who know nothing of the surface. Rushing out like lemmings, eager to get yourselves killed."

"They make an effort despite the odds," I say, my temper beginning to flare. "They knowingly head out into the unknown with the hope of their loved ones living on to the next day, even though they know that there's a good chance that they themselves won't. There's nothing about you that makes you any better, braver, or more righteous than anyone else."

"You'd better shut your mouth, girl," the man snarled. "Or else I'll come and sew it shut in the night."

"Try it." I enunciate, unrelenting although his stare is almost murderous.

"Back off, Ansel," another voice booms. "Leave the girl alone."

I purse my lips, tearing my eyes away from Ansel's to see who had interrupted us. I liked to think that I was perfectly capable of handling myself, especially when it came to bitter, wounded old men. But I guess the tall, burly man hauling thick logs toward the fire pit thought otherwise. He dropped the wood and set to work, building a structure for a nice fire that would come to life later that night.

I watch curiously, the facial expressions of each man vary in such interesting ways. Linos' shoulders are tense and his brows are furrowed so tightly that they tremble with anticipation. Ansel is fuming, fine lines setting into the deep creases of his scowl. He eventually rises onto his feet again and plods back in the direction from where he came. The large man's face is curiously slack and his brows rise when he suddenly lifts his gaze to meet mine.

"I'm sorry. The girls told me your name, but I think they butchered it," he says with a mild shrug. "I'm Jorah, anyways."

"It's Mnemosyne," I say in return. "Nem is fine."

"Don't mind Ansel too much," Jorah continues after a nod of acknowledgement. "He's been fighting since the Catastrophe fell. Can't really hate him too much for not being the nicest guy these days."

I nod my head once, reflecting on my actions and feeling a faint sense of guilt. Maybe I had been a little insensitive in firing back without knowing anything about his past. Linos' tension seems to have vanished and his shoulders slump in what appears to be relief. I give him a narrow eyed stare and chew on the inside of my bottom lip.

"I tried to warn you," he says in his defense. "That's what the look meant. Didn't you catch it?"

I want to reply with an irritable denial, but I do recall noticing his terse posture. I chose to ignore it at the time and I pit fire against fire against my better judgement. I sigh and rub the area under my left breast where my ribs are still aching. Maybe I do need more rest after all. I can see that Linos is watching me closely and I know my fatigue is showing.

"I'm going back to the tent," I say, struggling back onto my feet. Linos is suddenly next to me, holding my elbow for support. I consider telling him to back off, but I'm far too tired to even bother. He helps me settle back onto the bedroll and I close my eyes with a soft groan. Hopefully, my usual stamina returns to me soon.

"Do you think Ansel's really going to come in and sew my mouth shut?" I ask, looking up at him with one eye.

"Nah, Jorah wouldn't allow that to happen," Linos says with a grin. "He's the one who carried you from camp to camp while you were sleeping, so he wouldn't let all that effort go to waste."

"I don't understand," I say with a soft sigh. "Why go through the trouble of saving me when you know I'm a sub dweller?"

Linos is silent for a while and when I glance over, his mouth is pulled to the side in thought. He finally shrugs his shoulders and looks down at me with eyes that I can see are green from this angle. "Things are pretty desperate out here. We're always losing our friends, so maybe we're just trying to fill the holes they left. You just begin to realize the value of a human life, I guess," he answers, giving me a grin. "And besides, you're a girl so you're a pretty rare find out here."

I feel my lips curve into a faint smile and I close my eyes as I turn away.

"You're not too bad, Linos," I murmur as more of an afterthought shortly before drifting off to sleep.

"Thanks, Nem."

Some time later, I'm being shaken awake by a gentle hand. When I finally force an eye open, Io's freckled face is hovering over me. I cringe and turn my head, eying the late sunlight filtering through the canvas before pulling myself upright with a yawn. I turn back to Io as I rub the sleep from my eyes with my right hand.

"The girls are going to down the river to wash up," she says. "I thought you might want to come along."

"Ah, sure," I say, still a little groggy from the long nap.

I get up and follow her outside. Linos is situated around the campfire with Jorah, Felix, Ansel, and other figures I have yet to meet. Io is careful to guide me over rocks and unearthed roots. It isn't long before we come upon the bank of a wide river and I can see Caelena's head of blonde clustered with two other girls.

Io suddenly starts to help strip me down, much to my embarrassment, and I try to tell her that I can manage on my own. I'm already more than halfway undressed, when I manage to stop her from yanking down my underwear. She snickers and instead starts to peel off her own clothes, leaving me to my own devices as I turn away and slip them off. When I turn around, Io is already splashing her way through the water, greeting the other three girls with an enthusiastic wave. I draw a breath and follow after her, goosebumps rising as I wade through the cold water. The rocks lining the bottom of the river feel slimy under my feet and I grimace as I carefully walk over them.

"Nem, I'm glad that you're feeling well enough to join us," Caelena smiles at me, then turns to the other two girls. "This is Emilie and Mana. We have a couple more women around, but they're out on recon right now."

Mana is a girl with brown skin and straight, dark brown hair. She smiles at me and tiny dimples dot her cheeks. Emilie has soft, hazelnut ringlets and her skin is bronzed from the sunlight. She doesn't offer me anything more than a disinterested stare. Still I murmur a small hello out of courtesy.

"I heard you practically got into it with Ansel today," Mana speaks softly. "I hope you don't think too badly of him."

"No, it wasn't much of anything," I reply, rubbing my hands over my skin and through my hair. "It's fine."

"Oh, that's good to hear," she seems genuinely relieved. "He's not anyone's favorite around here, but he cares enough to come to our rescue every now and then."

"How was Linos? Was he being a jerk?" Io sounds eager for me to spill the beans. Judging from Caelena's expression, my response determines the boy's fate. "You know, you can always clock him in the head if he is."

"Linos was fine," I say without much thought.

Io looks disappointed, but Caelena is smiling in relief. With the exception of Emilie, they take turns asking me questions about my settlement and my loved ones. I tell them about how I lost my parents and how I just have Maya. They are curious about the lifestyle, so I vaguely explain mining and digging for precious metals to trade.

I'm listening to them as they start talking about some of the stones we unearth and turn into jewelry when I sense a presence by the river bank. I glance over my shoulder, not seeing or hearing anything. The girls don't seem to notice, but I casually dunk my head under the water to pluck a decent sized rock from the river floor.

I turn it over in my hands and wait.

When a slight movement rustles a cluster of bushes along the riverbank, I whip around and chuck the rock at the target with my full strength. It hits something with a loud knock and shout of agony rises up shortly after. The others cry out, quickly covering their chests and crouching under the water as a tall figure straightens from behind the foliage.

"Declan!" Io shouts, livid. "What the hell are you doing, you pervert?"

"I'm bleeding!" He cries in return, catching sight of the blood wetting his hand. "Oh my god, help me!"

It's only a matter of moments before a handful of men come running, weapons drawn and eyes alert. But when they see us and Declan as he is trying to tend to his head, they sheathe their swords, grumble at him, then turn to head back to whatever it is that they were doing before. It would seem that this wasn't an unusual occurrence because Felix is chiding Declan about how he never learns.

"I just wanted to greet the newcomer properly," Declan whines, moving his hand away for Felix to tend to the wound. "How am I supposed to know that she's got the hearing of a bat and the arm of a colossus?"

I shrug my shoulders when everyone turns to look at me. Mana seems reluctantly amused, but Caelena is a little upset. She orders Felix to get the dark haired man out of sight so we can all come out and get dressed. Declan is still pouting as Felix drags him back to camp with Linos following close behind. When we're sure that they're all gone, the blond immediately turns to me with concern.

"I'm so sorry about that, Nem," she gushes. "I told them all to behave, but the boys just don't listen! I really don't know what to do with them sometimes."

I'm already wading my way back to shore, but I spare her a glance over my shoulder.

"I don't mind," I tell her, forcing the corner of my mouth up into a small smile meant to soothe her ruffled feathers. It works because I can see the tension in her shoulders and in her stance fall away. Caelena smiles and allows herself to laugh with the other girls when they remind each other of the sound Declan's head made when the rock collided with it.

Night falls and I eat dinner with the girls while the men apprehensively eye me from across the camp. Io is pleased with the idea that they might grow to fear me more than Caelena, but I don't think anything of it.

"I just can't wait to see you in action now," Io says. "I bet you kick ass as masterfully as Xiang does."

"I don't really have any field experience aside from the time I almost died and ended up here," I remind her.

"But I like you," she murmurs. "There's something there that I just like having around."

"Yes, and your super senses caught Declan before he saw us naked again," Mana giggles.

It is amusing enough to garner a faint reaction from Emilie in the form of a rather sadistic smirk. I know there's a reason for her underlying dislike of me and I'm fairly sure of what it is. But I remain silent and allow myself a small chuckle when I recall the thrill of nailing the poor man square in the forehead.

Afterwards, we retire to our tents. Caelena and Io occupy the tent where I spent many of my recovery days while Emilie and Mana slip into a smaller tent across from ours. I settle and pull the covers over me, listening to the girl's giggles as they talk about something I haven't been paying attention to. The dim lantern light is extinguished and I can hear them fidgeting in their bedrolls.

"Hey, Nem, where'd you pick up such good aim?" Io whispers through the dark.

"I grew up with so many rocks," I reply, keeping my eyes closed. "There isn't much light, so I got good at throwing rocks at things in the dark. It's all about noting the size, shape, and weight. When you've thrown as many as I have, your body just remembers."

"Teach us!" Caelena begs.

"It's not very exciting," I mutter, rolling over. "But sure, if you're looking to kill that much time."

They giggle, sounding excited to learn such trivial skill that I happened to pick up out of habit. Surface dwellers are so odd, but I can't help but wonder about them. I'm still getting used to the fact that we've been living in this same space for multiple days without incident.

Is this what life is supposed to be like?

I wish Maya were here because the passing daylight can show her what I could never adequately explain when she asked why I'd always longed for the surface world.